Ranting & Raving: Motivation & Success

Ranting & Raving: Motivation & Success

After rereading some old posts, I decided I wanted to do another ranting & raving post. They were so much fun to write, and I haven’t done one in nearly three years.

Since then, I’ve done some growing up and have new things to write about. Today, I want to talk about motivation and success. After moving up here, working in different places with different people, I’ve seen a lot of variations of motivation and ultimately how people predict their success.

First moving here, I worked in retail with many people younger than me, (albeit, teenagers). Nowadays, I work in a university surrounded by people my age and older. I’m sure you could imagine the difference in perspectives.

This is the way i see it: whatever you decide to do with your life right now, will affect your life in, say, ten years from now. The reason I will work harder now is for the sake of my future.

Things take time to develop, but hard work pays off. Also, nothing long lasting will happen instantaneously and I think that’s why many people get frustrated with the waiting part of a better future.

I’ve noticed the younger generation can be impatient in particular, but that’s not necessarily their fault. They’ve grown up in a time where a majority of their day to day life consists of technology and instant satisfaction, because everything is right at their fingertips. I’ve also noticed a similar pattern with love and relationships, but I’ll get to that in another post.

When you’re eighteen, you feel immortal, as if you’ll stay young forever. I totally get it, I’ve been there. Once you’re approaching your mid-twenties like me (yikes) your tune will change. Ten years from now I’ll be thirty three, which seems far away, but life has a funny way of moving faster the older you get. Who knows, I could potentially have children by then, and lord knows I want nothing but the best for my family.

Anyways, I know I don’t have that much longer until I get my degree, I can see the finish line. But that doesn’t make the process any easier. My English class for example can really test me sometimes. I love English, and quite frankly I’m good at it, but my rebellious state of mind is like a little devil on my shoulder. Lately, all we’ve done in class is research on our laptops for our final essay. I become bored, wondering why I can’t just do research at home. My mind isn’t stimulated, so I think about protesting or playing hooky. Then I take a deep breath and shift my perspective.

This is what it takes to get my degree. In life, we’re going to be presented with things that aren’t always pleasant- but hell, that’s life. Can I devote one hour of my morning, every day, four days a week, for barely two months to get a degree? Yes, I absolutely can.

If you take a look around you, you’ll notice a lot of your peers are going through the same thing. I’ve heard some incredibly inspiring stories from my peers. Here are three of my favorites I think you’ll like:

One girl, who is studying to become a teacher, told me she had just received her eighth rejection from a school she applied to teach at. She’s pretty tough, but I could tell that this obviously bothered her. She began to tell me that she was rejected for the same reason: she could only work four of the five days required because she had classes. She told me how she didn’t want to come to class that day, that she wanted to stay at home, watch Bob’s Burgers and drink wine. But you know what? She still showed up.

Another girl I spoke with told me how she felt overwhelmed juggling work, an internship, a relationship, and school. She still showed up though, smiling.

Lastly, I noticed one of my regular customers that I have at my coffee stand had been m.i.a for a while, so when I finally saw him again, I reached out and asked how he was doing. He told me that he had gotten a new job, moved into a new apartment, and was dealing with annoying insurance adjusters because of a car accident he got into a couple months back. Yet, here he was, not only coming to class, but staying late to study.

Just goes to show you that everyone is going through something. There is no such thing as a perfect student, but a dedicated one. The purpose of this post isn’t to scare you, but to remind you that you are not alone. If you work hard enough for a great future, you’ll get it. Let your passion and ambition drive you, you’ll be unstoppable.